


As It Was Then

by raininshadows



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26421124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raininshadows/pseuds/raininshadows
Summary: Lea comes to visit Aqua, Terra, and Ven in the Land of Departure.
Relationships: Aqua/Axel (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10
Collections: Het Swap Exchange 2020





	As It Was Then

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scorpionGrass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpionGrass/gifts).



"Nice place you've got here," Lea observed, looking around the dining room in the Land of Departure. "Looks much better this way, honestly. I mean, probably not as good for hiding things, but I bet it's a lot easier to get around." 

Terra stared at him from his position over by a chest, where he was holding a bag labeled 'Nova Candy'. Ven was crouched on the floor, trying to coax a small animal out from behind the chest. "Better than what? It's always looked like this." 

"When I was trying to hide Ven and find you," Aqua interjected, "I used the Master's Keyblade to seal the world keyhole. I don't know if he ever showed you, but that changes it. Makes it strange, and hard to find anything inside."

Terra shook his head. "Probably he would have explained it when I became a Master," he said, without bitterness.

As calm as Terra sounded, Lea still sensed that this was a topic to move on from. "So, anyway, how are you guys doing?" he asked. "Planning on finding some new apprentices, or adopting some more critters like Ven's... pet over there?"

He'd caught a glimpse of the animal, which looked more like a stuffed toy of a cat than any actual animal Lea had ever seen, before it had hidden. Ven was distracted trying to coax it out with the help of the Nova Candy. "I'm sorry about Chirithy," Aqua said. “It doesn't like new people." 

Lea shrugged. "It's fine. Animals never got along great with me anyway." He thought maybe they hadn't minded him so much back before he'd been a Nobody, but that had been a very long time ago. 

"We're still trying to figure out what to do next," Aqua said, looking away from Ven and Terra. "I'd like to turn it into a place of learning again, but none of us feel like we're ready to have an apprentice yet." 

Lea nodded. "The scientists back in Radiant Garden are having the same sort of problem. They ended up deciding to turn it into a - what did Ienzo call it - a collaborative research community. Not the formal master and apprentice thing like Ansem did, but everyone working together." 

"That sounds like an interesting idea," Aqua said. "I'll have to think about it." 

Terra seemed about to say something when a paw flashed out from behind the chest where Chirithy was hiding. Ven yelped in pain and drew his hand back, and something with a very high-pitched voice cried "Leave me alone!" 

"What just-" Lea managed to say before Aqua was around the table and pulling him to his feet. 

"Come on, I'll give you a tour. I never saw it while it was transformed, I'd love to know what parts you recognized." He followed, surprised, as she led him out into the forecourt. 

"Did the Chirithy just talk?" Lea asked, more quietly, once they were outside. 

Aqua glanced away. "It doesn't talk much," she said quietly. "And usually only to Ven." 

Lea nodded, still not quite understanding. 

“But anyway,” Aqua said, “this is the entrance area. I know this didn’t stay the same.” 

“Yeah, the mountains were new,” Lea said, looking around. “It’s got the same sort of spiky feel to it on the outside, but yours looks a lot nicer. Even with the Nobody thing, Castle Oblivion was kind of creepy.” 

Aqua approached the railing and leaned back against it, looking up at the castle. “This world is balanced on the edge of light and dark. The difference is which one is allowed more influence over the structure of the world. But it’s always the same world underneath.” 

“But the inside was really different,” Lea said, joining her. Castle Oblivion had hidden more than twenty floors, and he couldn’t rule out an infinite number. The Land of Departure, in contrast, seemed to have a constant three. “It was… it was what you shaped it to be,” he finally landed on. “You could leave it blank, and it’d just be endless empty white hallways, or you could give it part of your memory and it’d become what you remembered.”

Aqua turned to stare at him. “Really? I had no idea you could shape it. The Master never said anything like that.” 

Lea shrugged. “That might have been because we had Namine working there the whole time I was around. She was using her memory powers to try to get Sora to help the Organization.”

“It was meant to draw anyone who entered into oblivion,” Aqua said quietly. “Endless, unmappable, inescapable.” 

“Sounds about right,” Lea said. “I didn’t have too much of a problem because I could always use the corridors of darkness to get back to the meeting room. But all of us were looking for the Chamber of Waking, and we never found a trace of it.” 

“It’s the throne room now,” Aqua said, pulling away from the railing. “I’ll show you.” She led him on a roundabout path, carefully avoiding the dining room, until they reached a very large room with three thrones on a dais. “Master Eraqus taught us that a very long time ago, when more Keyblade Masters were alive, they would hold audiences in here,” she explained. She looked at the center. “That’s where I left Ven,” she said quietly. “For twelve years.” 

“Hey, it’s not like you chose to leave him there that long,” Lea said, stepping closer. It seemed innocuous enough on the surface, but there was a strange feeling of energy in the air. He’d caught traces of the same feeling sometimes in Castle Oblivion, but it never lasted. “You were just trying to keep him safe.” 

Aqua nodded jerkily. “But in the end,” she said, “I couldn’t even save myself.” 

“I know what that’s like,” Lea said, thinking of Isa. “I lost one of my friends trying to keep him safe, too.” Isa had been far more heavily contaminated by Xehanort than any of the others; while he’d returned to life, he’d been severely weakened. “But I figure all I can really do is move on and try to help people as well as I can.”

Aqua sniffed, and when Lea took a closer look, he realized her eyes were bright with tears. “But what if I fail again?” she whispered. “What if I take on an apprentice and I can’t protect them, or if something happens to Terra or Ven again?” Her breathing was jittery. 

Nothing particularly helpful was coming to mind. Lea had never been good at dealing with tears to begin with, and his time surrounded by Nobodies hadn’t helped at all. “Do you want a hug?” he asked after a silence that felt far too long. 

Aqua nodded, and Lea moved towards her and hugged her. He could feel her heart beating under her skin, another contrast with the Nobodies he’d known. “You’re stronger now,” he finally said. “We all are. You won’t have to fight alone, if anyone like Xehanort ever comes back. I’ll be with you, and so will the rest of us.” 

After a few minutes, her breathing slowed, and she pulled away from him slightly. “Thank you,” she said quietly. 

Lea ran a hand back through his hair. “No problem. That’s what friends are for, right?”

Aqua nodded. “I guess so.” She wiped her eyes with one hand, and then looked up at him. “If Terra and Ven and I were to do what you suggested, with a group of Keyblade wielders coming here to learn from each other, would you want to come?”

Lea took a moment to consider the idea. Leaving Isa and Radiant Garden just after he’d gotten them back seemed like betrayal, but Radiant Garden hadn’t honestly been his home in many years, and he could always go back and visit Isa. And the idea of coming here, of spending time with Aqua and her friends and learning to use the Keyblade better, had its own definite appeal. 

“I’d have to think about it some more, but I’m definitely interested,” he finally said. 

Aqua smiled. “Good. Let’s go back to the dining room. Chirithy’s probably either calmed down or run away by now, and hopefully you can meet it.” 

As they headed back, Aqua was smiling, and Lea noticed she seemed to be walking a bit closer to him.


End file.
